Organizational Development and Change Management - Case Study Example

Running head: Change management. Organizational Development Change management In order to bring about a new improved state of performance, a systematic change management approach is adopted by organizations, which forms an essential part of organizational development. Change management is a complex process and involves many activities, functions and members of an organization. One such change management process implemented at Valpro Inc has been discussed in this paper focusing on the model of change adopted and a theoretical assessment of planning process and outcomes have been performed. Recommendations to the negative outcomes that emerged have been made before concluding with key findings. Change is embraced as an imperative approach to organizational success and yet faces numerous challenges during and after implementation. Organizational change is adopted as a method to improve existing performance and efficiency, in short to bring about organizational development. Such a change in process, people, or any other organizational aspect is usually planned considering all potential stakeholders and potential impact. In this context, a small-scale organizational change will be discussed in terms of its theoretical model and effectiveness of the approach by studying the planning process, outcomes and challenges/issues that surfaced during the change process. Possible recommendations to improve the change approach will be made accordingly. Finally, key conclusions will be drawn based on the findings from change management process and related literature. Valpro Inc. is a medium-sized IT company, established in 2000 and has about 3500 employees across two locations, Illinois and India. They deal with development of customized software for specific businesses and functions. For example, they have successfully developed software for hospitals, transportation companies, and real estate businesses; they specialize in accounting software and safety and security management. While operating across two locations, Valpro Inc constantly focuses on making their processes and production leaner and cost-effective. This focus has encouraged numerous lean initiatives in both locations, which impacted their stakeholders in both locations. One such lean initiative involved reducing the number of employees by 25% on a project involving software development for an accounting firm. This reduction involved staff from both locations, which was a tough challenge to implement. A planned approach to this small-scale change is essential for positive and desired outcomes. Of the different planned change models, the positive action model that encourages maximum participation is more effective than other proposed models (Cummings & Worley, 2014). Moreover, the positive model is inclined towards making use of the strengths of the organization, in terms of skills and capabilities, resources, and money, to achieve the desired outcome. From their extensive study, Stelzer and Mellis (2000) have identified nine critical factors responsible for successful organizational change, such as, management commitment and support, staff involvement, providing enhanced understanding, tailoring improvement initiatives, managing the improvement project, change agents and opinion leaders, stabilizing changed processes, communication and collaboration, relevant and realistic objectives, and unfreezing or managing resistance. Burke (2010) asserts that planned organizational change is not only the most effective method but also highly complex considering the number of stakeholders, activities and dimensions involved in this process. In the present context of change that was implemented at Valpro Inc, it started with a change request form submitted to the change management team by the project manager in India. This change request form requires the change initiator to briefly describe nature and reasons for change along with desired or predicted impact of the change. In this case, the manager proposed reducing a project team staff by moving 7 project team members out of the current project because their work could be automated using an advanced software and also by eliminating two non-value adding activities such as re-checking and mapping. The manager proposed that automation could be achieved using macros, which will also help in mapping process. This change request form typically included all details of the change initiator, priority, impact, stakeholders and a description about the change including justification and origin of change. In addition, this form also requested expected outcomes and potential benefits for different stakeholders associated with the change; resources and budget required to initiate an implement the change; impact of change rejection and/or failure; finally, timelines and responsibilities associated with the change. This change request was sent to the change management team and discussed in change board meeting, which usually includes project manager, operations head, technology head, and change manager. After approval, the change request was assessed for risk ad impact by the risk team. This risk team assesses various factors such as development time, resources and skills, impact and involvement of other teams and stakeholders, and cost. After the impact and risk analysis, the change approval was presented in change board meeting for further discussion on budget projection and allocation as well as potential benefits for different stakeholders. The main challenges that surfaced during this analysis were potential resistance from staff, low morale, and possible lowered commitment as well as misinterpretation besides high costs for buying the automation software from a reputed external vendor. The project manager discussed with other functional managers about vacant positions that could accommodate the 7 members instead of asking them to leave the organization. Four openings in the technology department, two in finance and one in another project team in India were identified. A communication plan lead by the project manager was designed in order to minimize negative impact of the change. After acquiring budget approval for software purchase, internal resources to develop macros were identified and the activity initiated. After about two weeks, once the macros were ready to be implemented and the new software installed, the seven identified members were redeployed in various other departments based on their skills. The performance of new software and the macros were monitored for 4 weeks and minor glitches in the software were fixed with the help of external consultant from the vendor company. The plan adopted is standard across the organization for all potential and implemented changes and so is the change request procedure. This procedure is built in line with the positive change model, which is based on concept of appreciative inquiry and identifies four stages of development: discovery, dream, design, and destiny (Bushe, 2011). Accordingly, the first stage is to identify potential area of improvement; secondly, to ascertain the best possible outcome or desired state; thirdly, to design or formulate concrete plan to achieve the desired state through collaboration and analysis; lastly, to deliver the results through inspired actions, monitoring and control. During the planning phase, active interventions from technology, finance, and operations were observed. The positive action plan employed during this change process certainly helped in implementing the change with minimal negative impact. All factors related to technical and non-technical aspects and human resources were considered during the planning process. Individual behavior and skills also play an important role in any planned change (Robertson, Roberts & Porras, 1993). Through their empirical study on planned change models, Ford and Greer (2005) concluded that managers responsible for change implementation need to adopt a unique approach for every situation/change, and that monitoring and control are the most important factors determining the success of intended change. They also point out that contemporary management focuses on non-bureaucratic management with greater empowerment, which can be conducive to effective monitoring and control. Valpro Inc’s change management approach involved discussion with people from different departments, which mitigated the potential risks to a large extent and also fostered collaboration and cooperation between departments. The outcome of the change in context was positive and as intended ignoring the two employees’ willingness to depart from the company; this could be because the employees were not satisfied with the future role proposed, which were in finance department. The point to note is that these employees that were a part of the software development team were not motivated to move into a totally different domain. Secondly, changing their work location to another country also seemed less motivating but was accepted due to lack of any other choice. Although the outcome of this change was as intended in terms of cost and time saving, it certainly affected employee morale due to various factors. Strategically, this small-scale change process could be managed in a better manner through modifications to the interventions at various levels. This change was based on imposition of values of the organization on employees, which may or may not be acceptable to all members, which was the root for conflict (Rees, 2012). Ready and Truelove (2011) highlight the power of collective ambition, which comprises of seven elements at an organizational level, namely, purpose, vision, goals, priorities, brand promise, core values and leader behaviors. However, is extremely difficult for the leader to infuse the same into individuals without effective leadership qualities. The change request did not include any consideration for employee handling during planning stage although employee redeployment was discussed during change board meetings. Attention to cultural factors lacked in the strategy adopted though cultural differences were acknowledged. Capabilities of the change agent, project manager in this case, also plays an important role in effective intervention. As the working manager, he/she should have developed effective interpersonal relationship with the team members and should have known the team members’ aspirations and interests before suggesting their redeployment. A better approach towards this effort would have been administering a survey to assess the team members’ perceptions and attitudes towards the change and its potential outcomes, both negative and positive. Resistance due to fear attached to their careers and loss of status quo could be better handled through effective leadership and interpersonal skills. While achieving organizational goals stands at the core, employee satisfaction and commitment also play equally important role in organizational development. Finally, as highlighted by Zenger, Folkman and Edinger (2011), leaders have to make an effort to develop effective interpersonal relationships with their team members to champion any kind of change. To conclude, the planned change implemented at Valpro Inc. was quite effective as a process as it involved all potential stakeholders at various levels, which helped the team to implement the change process without many challenges. Moreover, financial and other implications on the company were not too high considering the successful implementation of intended change and its outcomes. The only issue that stands out in the entire process is the leadership ineffectiveness of the manager in motivating the team members towards successful redeployment in other areas. Leaders/managers must be wary of the fact that employee job satisfaction and positive career progression are very important for employee commitment and also organizational sustenance in the long term. References Burke, W.W. (2010). Organization change: Theory and practice. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Bushe, G.R. (2012). Appreciative inquiry: Theory and critique. In Boje, D, Burnes, B and Hassard, J (eds.) The Routledge companion to organizational change. (87-103). Oxford, UK: Routledge. Cummings, C and Worley, C. (2014). Organization development and change. 10th ed. Stanford, CT: Cengage Learning. (21-44). Ford, M.W and Greer, B.M. (2005). Implementing planned change: An empirical comparison of theoretical perspectives. American Journal of Business, 20(2), 59-69. http://www.bsu.edu/mcobwin/ajb/?p=57 Ready, D.A and Truelove, E. (2011). The power of collective ambition. Harvard business review. 89 (12): 94-102. Rees, C.J. (2012). Organizational development and international contexts. In Boje, D, Burnes, B and Hassard, J (eds.) The Routledge companion to organizational change. (74-86). Oxford, UK: Routledge.. Robertson, P.J., D.R. Roberts and J.I. Porras. (1993). Dynamics of planned organizational change: Assessing empirical support for a theoretical model. Academy of Management Journal, 36: 619-634 Stelzer, D and Mellis, W. (2000). Success factors of organizational change in software process improvement. Software Process Improvement Practice, 4 (4), 227-250. Zenger, J.H, Folkman, J.R and Edinger, S.K. (2011). Making yourself indispensable. Harvard Business Review. 89 (10), 84-90. Read More